Balloon Shapes By Cops » Gaijin bars

Hobgoblin Mistake

Silentjim — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 04:26:59 +0000

When I find an error it’s only polite to correct it….we went back to the Hobgoblin in Sannomiya last weekend and discovered to my shock (at having told a porkie on this blog) and delight (at being able to now afford it), that the Sunday Roast is actually only ￥1400 (about £7)!. The ￥4000 version is for a party booking and includes all you can drink for 2 hours (which in fact is quite a bargain).
Apologies all round to the Hobgoblin Pub.

Haven’t tried the roast yet, but will let you know.

My Birthday

Silentjim — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 04:21:51 +0000

Wow, it’s been ages since I blogged anything, never have time to get online these days.

Last month (for ’tis now September!) was my birthday and a splendid time was had by all (well mainly me, as Aki just got to watch me drink 11 beers in 2 hours in a beer garden on top of a department store in Kobe).
Still, I’m sure that was fun for her.

Kobe

This was the view of the Kobe Shinbun (newspaper) offices and a cloud from my seat in the beer garden. Not that exciting but thought I’d show you it anyway.

After the garden we went to the recently opened Hobgoblin pub in Kobe the first one to be opened in Kansai (there are 2 in Tokyo). For those that don’t know the Hobgoblin chain is run by Wychwood breweries in England, and one of them was in fact my local in my hometown, and many an hour was spent in it’s confines over the, wow, 17years I’ve been going there.

A lot of “English” or “Irish” pubs in Japan are run by Japanese people/companies, and bear little resemblance to the real thing, so I was very pleased to see that it did actually look and even feel a bit like an actual pub. It’s run by an English guy called Simon so that helps. They had Magners, Speckled Hen and even Pork
Scratchings! Splendid.

We didn’t eat there, but the menu contained fish and chips (and unlike in the Hub – another english pub here, actually looked like fish and chips), full english breakfast!!! and on Sundays for ~~4000Y (about 20quid) you can get a full english traditional roast! Yes, I did say, 20 quid – almost London prices huh? We’re saving up for that special treat~~. Apologies to Hobgoblin, went back the other day, and there was a mis-reading – the Roast is actually only 1400Yen (about 7 quid). The 4000Y menu was for a “party”. Oops. Will be going back much sooner to try it out
Things were starting to get blurry and I was starting to buy things like pork scratchings in a wave of nostalgia, so we headed back to our favourite wine bar (Petit Emilion) for some birthday cake.

Birthday Cake 2008

My Birthday

Silentjim — Wed, 23 Aug 2006 07:07:24 +0000

Just last week, I had a birthday. In fact I kinda had 2. Me missus was working on the actual day, so I hung out with some friends then, and the next day, had a 2nd birthday with my lady.

First day was a 3hour karaoke extravaganza. In Japan they have this thing called “nomihodai“, which means “drink as much as you want” for a couple of hours for about a tenner. This sounded like a top idea, however, the Japanese don’t seem to understand about drinking during the day, so it’s soft drinks until 7pm! (We started after my work, about 3.30).

So we chipped off, bought a bottle of sake and smuggled it in. Glad I was too drunk to hear myself sing, as got a feeling it was pretty bad.

My tattooable friend was there (having just had another session), so here’s some pics.

Japanese Tattoo

Tattoo

Nice Frame

The last pic, isn’t a tattoo it’s a frame in the karaoke room. Nice idea. Save’s buying a picture.

Anyway, much booze and singing later, and one friend down, we went to a bar in Sannomiya.

The Hub in Sannomiya, Kobe

Tattoo Again

Some tequila later, things started to get blurry and we went our separate ways, my friend back to Kyoto, me to Ashiya.

I met my girlfriend and we went off to try a local bar, as there’s a few near by that we haven’t been too. Not sure it was a good idea, as I had double vision at this point, however we went, and I drank more, and conversed in Japanese (not sure I did very well, but the barlady did give me a free cup! Which is v. cool).

The next day, I was taken out for Kobe steak in Sannomiya The best in the world!

Kobe Steak

Then off to buy a guitar and see Pirates of the Caribbean 2.

Finally, a trip to my favourite yaki-tori restaurant, and then Petit Emilion, our local French wine bar. Where we had champagne! and the owner bought me a cake!! (We are regulars, so we talk a lot). Top bloke.

Birthday Cake

All in all a fantastic birthday

And on top of that, I got my very own vending machine!